The State of Colorado has recently started issuing notices to employers who have reported fraudulent claims through their website https://co.tfaforms.net/f/Employer_Reported_Identity_Theft. As a Thomas & Company employer, we will respond to the claim questionnaire alerting the CO UI team that this is not a valid claim and we will complete the online filing form on your behalf. Due to the volume of fraud claims being reported, Colorado cannot respond to each report individually. The notice that is being sent out reads as follows.
We received your reports of fraudulently filed unemployment claims. While the current volume of fraud reports unfortunately prevents us from following up individually on every report, please be assured that your report has been routed to our investigations unit. We are taking immediate steps to close the claims, pending investigation. No other action on your part is necessary at this time.
If any benefits were paid that would charge against your account prior to the claim being closed as a fraudulent claim, your account will be credited for any benefits that might have been paid once the claim is closed for fraudulent activity. As such, payment of such benefits will not impact your experience rating when your premium rates are calculated. If you are a reimbursing employer, you will not be charged for those benefits.
Thank you for taking the time to submit this report. CDLE understands how unsettling this experience can be. After reporting the fraud, you can ignore any future correspondence in regards to the fraudulent claim.
With the influx in fraud, we don't always stop automated letters from going out.
We are committed to safeguarding the integrity of Colorado's unemployment programs, and our investigations unit works daily with law enforcement and other agencies to investigate and prosecute identity theft and fraud.
You will find more resources, including an employer toolkit and frequently asked questions and answers, on our website at ColoradoUI.gov.
When is an unemployment insurance claim filed fraudulently? An unemployment insurance claim may be fraudulent when:
- An employee's identity is used to file the claim, and
o The employee did not submit the claim.
o The employee is still working for you. - Someone claims to have worked for you but you have no record of that person as an employee.
- An employee's name or social security number is used to file a claim, but the two don't match.
You may receive a fact-finding questionnaire by mail or receive an email to complete a questionnaire in
MyUI Employer or in SIDES when these claims are filed.
An unemployment insurance claim may be filed by a former employee. This may not be a fraudulent claim. We look at wages and employers as far back as two years before the claim is filed. If you are not sure, please complete the fact-finding questionnaire with the details about the former employee's time with you and the reasons they stopped working for you.
Dos and Don'ts When Reporting Fraud
DO
- Immediately report the suspected fraud to CDLE via our online form at cdle.colorado.gov/fraud prevention. (Thomas & Company is completing this online form for all cases reported to us - no action is needed on your part.)
- For SIDES users, please report the suspected fraud to CDLE via the online form and also still respond to the questionnaire within the SIDES program. For more information, about SIDES, visit cdle.colorado.gov/respondjob-separations. (Thomas & Company responds to all questionnaires for our clients through SIDES - no action is needed on your part.)
- Use the online form for all suspected unemployment identity theft on behalf of your employees for Colorado unemployment claims only. If you have paperwork from another state, you must report to their unemployment program.
- Disregard any additional correspondence from the division on these claims as these are automatically generated until we can reprogram the system to suspend these communications.
- Tell your employees for whom you have received a fraudulent claim about that claim so that they can take steps to protect their identity. Please refer them to CDLE's website at ColoradoUI.gov and to the Attorney General's Identity Theft Repair Kit found at StopFraudColorado.gov.
DO NOT
- Complete the questionnaire in MyUI Employer or the paper form you may have received (the exception to this is SIDES users). Submitting the fraud report on the CDLE website will hold payment on the claim, pending investigation.
- File an appeal. Payment of any fraudulent benefits will not be charged to your account (upon a finding of fraud) and will not impact your experience rating when your premium rates are calculated. We will not schedule appeals when the reason for the appeal is that the claim is fraudulent.
- Call the main UI call center at 303-318-9000 or 1-800-388-5515. You may call the Employer Services line at 303-318-9100 should you have any questions. After completing the fraud form rest assured, the report was received, and the claim is under investigation.